Ilvermorny Ambassadors
by mrich22
Summary: What if an Ilvermorny student went to Hogwarts during the Triwizard tournament as an ambassador? Unknown to her would be the divisions amongst the houses and the expectations as she was sorted into Slytherin. What if this same girl become fast friends with Hermione Granger and Theo Nott? Could she change the harsh stereotypes that plague the houses?
1. Chapter 1

Eden packed up the final bits of her life at Ilvermorny into her Thunderbird extension charmed duffle bag; her hair brush, a favorite Queen t-shirt, and a pack of spearmint gum. The dark hues of red and yellow began to look faded with the six years of wear since she'd bought it during her first year. Her Ilvermorny dorm room looked exceptionally bare now that she finally had a chance to look around, other than the stack of summer clothes she'd be leaving behind since the Scottish Highlands had no use for flip flops or jean shorts, when her best friend Gina burst through the door. "Okay. Dude. I know we said we wouldn't get mushy, but what am I supposed to do here without you? While you are off galavanting with Lord knows who across the Scottish countryside, I could die of loneliness." A wry smile spread across Eden's face as she looked down at her best friend now gracelessly draping herself over Eden's luggage with a forlorn look on her face and her arm draped across her eyes. "I'm pretty sure you will do just fine carrying on without me; just find someone else to complain to about Professor Phillips." Gina shot up. "You don't know that!" Gina began an exaggerated stage whisper, "These ladies aren't exactly our biggest fans," looking around at the empty beds that were inhabited by their dorm mates, Theresa, Kalli, and Maliah.

Eden rolled her eyes, "You should have thought about that before you decided to drink too much giggly water last year and tell every girl in our house what they could fix about themselves." Gina let out a long exaggerated guffaw, "Yeah. Well not my best moment, but literally that was all true. No regrets." Eden couldn't help but love Gina more as a sister than a dorm mate or friend. Their first year they were sorted into the same house, Thunderbird, and became fast friends when they both realized that adventure was in their blood while many of the other young eleven year old girls were too afraid. Gina's Brooklyn attitude and Eden's Boston stubbornness made them a force to be reckoned with and her classmates knew it. Gina had stuck by her side all throughout their years at Ilvermorny willing to go to war for each other on the school front as well as the home front. The past three summers, Eden had basically lived in Brooklyn with Gina and her mom in a seven story walk up and nothing felt closer to home before.

Eden's eyes began to get misty as the memories with her best friend rushed through her and she began to realize that she would be missing out on so much when she left for Hogwarts and the Triwizard Tournament. Life wouldn't stop here at Ilvermorny just because she was gone. Strangely enough, the world would keep turning when her and Justin left Greylock Mountain. This realization came plummeting through her gut like an ice water bath and she turned to look at her best friend. Gina stared back and noticed the misting in Eden's eyes. All bravado gone, she lowered her arms and walked over to Eden and wrapped her in a warm hug hoping that it would sustain her through the twirling portkeys across the Atlantic. Speaking in a hushed tone into her hair, "I will miss you like crazy, sis. I hope you know that. I'll write you as often as humanly possible." The genuine love in Gina's words pulled at Eden's heart strings which made her hold on tighter.

Seemingly too soon, Eden broke the hug and wiped her eyes hastily on her Nirvana t-shirt. Two years before, Gina's mom, Beth, had taken her and Gina to a Nirvana concert in Seattle over winter break because Beth believed that being a witch was sacred and important but sometimes you had to "rock with the muggle bands". The night was full of laughter and singing off key to the songs that Gina had grown up with. That is when Eden realized that by sharing this experience with her, she had found a family with this single mother household. That t-shirt was one of her most prized possessions. Gina reached down for her sweater and tugged it up, showing that she was also wearing her Nirvana t-shirt. "Always, baby, always." Giving her a heart stopping smile, she picked up Eden's duffle bag and slung an arm around her shoulder. "Grab your pillow and let's get downstairs. Justin is going to come unhinged if you are late." Together they walked out of their shared dorm room.

"My God, woman, did you end up sewing all new clothes while you were up there?" Justin's anger was always mellowed by his use of analogies that always made Eden and Gina laugh at him. Harshly. And usually in his face. His dark skin seemed taut with nerves as his equally dark eyes glanced over the two girls as they strolled into the main hall with the sound of his foot tapping relentlessly on the stone floors. Gina released her hand from Eden's shoulder and gave him an annoyed huff, "You are honestly too much. Has anyone ever told you that before?"

"You. You have told me that before. And yet, you still hang around me." Justin gave her a smirk that began to ease away his anxiety. "Well it looks like I won't be hanging around anyone this year because I'll be all alone." Eden could tell Gina was amping up for another dramatic display of despair but this time on Justin's trunk. Before she could lay across it, Justin levitated the trunk above his head. "Let's get going Ede before Miss Priss decides to have a meltdown." Even though he had just insulted Gina, Justin walked up to her and enveloped her in a hug that only Justin could give and kissed her temple. Gina turned and kissed his cheek while she moved towards Eden again for one last quick hug. Pulling her arms back and taking a step back, Gina smiled at them both, "Good luck, my intrepid adventurers. Send me letters or assume I'll light your beds on fire." With this last sentiment, she turned around and walked back up the stairs from the main hall. Justin and Eden turned towards each other and smiled broadly. "Let's go."

Eden and Justin had been traveling all day to arrive at Hogwarts and be unceremoniously stuffed in a classroom upon their arrival. "You both will be taking the sixth year's classes while you are ambassadors here. I assume the expectations will be just as high or higher than Ilvermorny while you attend." Eden could tell the severe looking woman was closing in on the end of her speech. They had been sitting there for two hours as she had droned on about their daily lives as well as their tasks and responsibilities as ambassadors. "Now that I believe you are sufficiently briefed on your stay at Hogwarts there will be one last thing. You will need to be sorted into your houses."

"Wait, Professor, Justin and I are the only two students from Ilvermorny. We thought we would be able to stay together."

"I'm sorry Miss Chambers, that is not the case. Yourself and Mr Stewart will have to be sorted. See it as an additional task as an ambassador to fully immerse yourselves into Hogwarts daily life." With this Professor McGonagall turned towards the door to lead the new students out of the room, and Eden looked at Justin and rolled her eyes. Following her through corridor after corridor, Justin turned to Eden, "Dude, I don't want to be split up. What if something bad happens? Or I don't know, everyone here hates us."

"Justin, you are one of the only people in the world I care about. Pretty sure they will love you no matter what house you are in. Plus I'll see you during classes and free period and I assume we will get to sit together for meals and stuff. Just no dorm time. It'll be okay." Eden gave him a brief smile, while on the inside her stomach did somersaults. She never worried about Justin, but she would have to up her game in the friendliness department if she wanted to have anyone to talk to during her time without him. "If you follow me through here we can sort you, introduce you to the students and staff, and then begin the feast. The first task is next week so many students are fluttered with nerves. Finding your tables will allow you some time to meet your housemates as well as collect some information for your ambassador tasks." McGonagall gave them both a tight smile and led them to a side room off of what Eden assumed was the cafeteria. She could hear students filing in loudly. The familiar chaotic sounds of their own cafeteria made her feel a little more at ease. These kids couldn't be too different than what she was used to, could they?

After sitting down on the stool, Professor McGonagall plopped an old wizard's hat on Eden's head as it barked out, "Slytherin!" Next Justin filed toward the hat and it calmly stated, "He is a Gryffindor through and through, Professor." While watching Justin, Eden tried to remember the meanings of the different houses at Hogwarts. After taking her ambassador's exam she tried to read up on Hogwarts before she quickly became bored by the monotonous history. Now Ilvermorny: A History that was a page turner. Back at school, Justin and Eden were both Thunderbirds. They bled red, gold, and white and now it seemed like Justin wouldn't have to change his school colors. "Although you are wearing your muggle clothes, we will take you into the Great Hall for introductions. It is getting late and we wouldn't want to wait any longer." Justin looked down at his graphic t shirt and jeans with well placed scuffs and holes along the knees and then glanced over at Eden, "Damn, we are going to make quite the American impression in our "muggle" clothes won't we?" A smile overtook Justin's face as glee filled his eyes and Eden began to laugh. The "muggle" or nomaj clothes Professor McGonagall assumed they were wearing, were often the clothes they found themselves in on any weekend at Ilvermorny. Yes robes were often worn for school but the minute that bell rang, students throughout the school ran to their dorms to change into their real clothes. The laughing felt like it wouldn't stop as she saw the "grunge" vibe both of them gave off. This is exactly how Gina would want them to look, but Headmaster Thompson might not agree with their chosen first impression. Professor McGonagall led them into the Great Hall while they both tried to stifle their giggles until they found themselves on the stage in front of 400 students staring quietly back at them. Their laughs died in their throats as heat began to rush up both of their necks and cheeks.

"Students, we have been given the opportunity to host two ambassadors from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft during the Triwizard Tournament. They will be participating in the sixth year's classes as well as writing journalism pieces on the tournament as well as life here at Hogwarts. I encourage you to make them both feel welcome as they become familiarized with life here. With that in mind, they have both been sorted into their appropriate Hogwarts houses. Justin Stewart will be joining Gryffindor while Eden Chambers will be sorted into Slytherin." With this statement, both Justin and Eden felt a slight tug towards their appropriate table and began to shuffle away from each other as they took quick glances back and forth.

"Let the feast begin."

Eden had found an open seat towards the very end of Slytherin table which was clearly far away from any other students of the house. The closest housemates she could see were at most 13 years old and ogled Eden when she looked their way. She rolled her eyes and began to fill her plate with chicken and vegetables because much of the other food looked like meat concealed into large dark pies. After filling her plate, she took another quick glance at Justin; already he had been adopted into a middle part of the table with other students their age and was engrossed by the questions of the students around him. "This will be just wonderful." Eden muttered to herself.

"What will be wonderful?" A boy looking to be around her age with brown hair and dark brown eyes looked back at her as he plopped down next to her. "Because if that is your boyfriend, I would start to be worried. Parvarti Patil and Lavender Brown are both looking at him like he's supper." A wry smile spread across the boy's face as Eden glanced towards Justin and saw the hungry look in the girls' eyes around him. He had that affect on people. "He's not my boyfriend. We are just friends," Eden retorted as she turned back to her dinner and began to eat, but the boy didn't seem to get the hint and leave. "I'm Theo, by the way. Theo Nott. It is nice to meet you although you don't look spectacularly pleased to meet me." At this Eden couldn't help but look up at him and remember her plan while she was here: up her friendliness game and have at least one person other than Justin to hang around and talk to. "It is nice to meet you. I'm sorry, just a little tired from all the traveling. I'm Eden Chambers." She gave Theo an award winning smile and stuck our her hand to him. Shaking it, he looked back at some of the boys near the middle of the table and smirked. Eden pulled her hand back and went back to finishing her dinner to allow her to more quickly get out of there to meet up with Justin. Already she felt lonely.

"Well, the real reason why I am here is because... yes, do you see those boys and that girl staring back at us?" He pointed towards two boys, one light skinned and another with such pale skin and white hair Eden wondered if he was sick or something, and a girl with chestnut brown pixie cut hair. The girl gave a small wave when the light skinned boy stood up from the bench and yelled, "Come on down here, babe!" The pixie haired girl then turned towards the boy and slapped him in the arm and gave him a stern look. Eden smiled and turned back to Theo, "Yeah, them. So they sent me to ask if you would like to come sit with us. We are your age- sixth years- so you don't have to spend your whole first meal at Hogwarts hanging with some Freddy First Years." He gave a quick glance at her table mates, "no offense boys," and looked back at her, "What do you say, Grunge? Want to join?"

Already picking up her plate she replied, "Only if you promise to never call me Grunge again. We didn't have time to change."

"Hey, I like the American Grunge scene. Also, Nirvana? Way to make an impression. That is a great muggle band." Eden looked at him while he escorted her back to his part of the table, "Well, I'm glad to hear it. I was worried this would be a wasteland for my musical taste."

"Stick close to me, Grunge, and you'll be good." Theo winked at her as he sat down and left an open spot for her. "Eden, let me make your acquaintance with my friends." Pointing first at the girl with the pixie cut, "This is Daphne Greengrass. Charms extraordinaire, if you ever need any help." The girl gave her a genuine smile and looked her up and down with bright blue eyes framed by dark black lashes. Freckles seemed sprinkled across her nose and cheeks and complemented her porcelain skin tone. "Welcome, Eden. We are glad to have you."

"Next we have Draco Malfoy and then Blaise Zabini. I would steer clear of him." Theo pointed out the two boys and Blaise looked back aghast, "Don't believe a word he says, beautiful, I'm the only snake you can trust here." The other boy, Draco, rolled his eyes while Eden got a better look at him. His skin before seem pale from sickness, but now that she was closer she could see that it was a beautiful alabaster color that almost seemed to shine in the shadows from the torches on the walls. It was mesmerizing, except for the purplish blue bags under his eyes. Eden wondered to herself how he could be so sleep deprived and began to worry about her own class schedule. "I saw you really took the Come As You Are vibe to the extreme, Chambers." Draco then appraised her with his eyes. "But it works for you, being surrounded by so many half bloods and mudbloods at your school." He looked up at her and smirked. "The Nevermind album is one of my favorites, but not the intention with my clothing. I guess when you aren't allowed time to change into robes then I guess you have to come as you are after a day of travel across the Atlantic. Also, I am a halfblood and one of my best friends back home has no maj parents, but then again we weren't raised with a superiority complex." She shot him a glare after the dig at her clothing and music choice. "Bloody hell, Malfoy, she's been here for two minutes and she already refuses to take your shit. I could get used to this." Theo then threw an arm over Eden's shoulder that Eden immediately shrugged off. Theo pulled his arm back and gave her an embarrassed smile.

Maybe being a Slytherin wouldn't be so bad, Eden thought to herself as her table mates began eating. She couldn't wait to tell Justin that she may have made some friends too although Draco was clearly not her cup of tea. She glanced over to the Gryffindor table right as Justin did the same and they smiled to each other and then turned back around to their new house mates.


	2. Chapter 2

Eden woke up to the sound of the gentle lapping of lake water against the windows of her dormitory room that she shared with Daphne and two other girls she had met her first night in Slytherin House, Tracy Davis and Pansy Parkinson. A faint greenish glow came through the windows which had an instant calming effect on her. Eden stretched her limbs against the green and silver bedspread and smiled to herself, remembering that first night in her new dormitory. After the banquet ended and all students were released back to their dormitories, Justin and Eden walked together towards the main hall rehashing their conversations with their new housemates. Once they approached the stairs, they split up promising to meet up in the library tomorrow before the task to begin note taking and comparing interview ideas. As she turned away, Daphne caught up next to her and linked her arm with hers and fell into step with her as they walked to the Slytherin dungeons talking about her life back home with the boys walking behind them.

Eden was amazed by the opulent tapestries lining the walls of the common room that made even the dungeons look cozy, as well as the large fireplace nestled into the western wall surrounded by large couches. After taking a seat with Daphne, Tracy and Pansy came around to introduce themselves and give her the information she needed for success as a Slytherin. Making herself comfortable on the couch across from Eden and Daphne with Tracy close next to here, both girls leaned in and Pansy began, "Make sure you only talk to people in our house. I get your friend is a Gryffindor but that is basically against all we stand for because they are our rivals." Pansy explained with a superior tone as she watched the boys coming to sit around the fire with them. Draco sitting down with his back against the seat of the couch that Pansy was sitting at and nudged her legs over to give him space. "I think I can make those decisions for myself, thanks," Eden responded kindly. She was still determined to keep her housemates on her good side, even if she blatantly disagreed with their weird prejudices.

Pansy's eyes narrowed and Tracy looked perplexed, while Draco's eyebrows shot into his hairline with amusement and she heard him mutter about hearing that before. "Well, if that is how you feel, it is your funeral, American." Pansy then pushed Draco out of the way of her legs and stalked to the dorm room with Tracy in tow. Eden chocked that up to a loss, maybe she could live with not being Pansy's friend while she was here though.

After she left, the Slytherin boys began asking Eden all about life in the U.S. and what Ilvermorny was like. "So you are telling me that they let you leave on weekends? Any weekends? Portkeys galore?" Blaise was most enthralled of all. "Yeah, it isn't really a big deal since it is in Massachusetts we are able to portkey when we can pool enough cash or just take the bus which takes a lot longer but is also a lot cheaper."

"Nomaj clothes are kinda the norm back home. They are just clothes. We are pretty interwoven into mainstream culture. We love Reese's cups and Coke more than pumpkin juice and chocolate frogs." They relaxed into comfortable conversation as the fire slowly began to dim out and their eyes began to lull. Eden slowly found herself glancing more and more over at Theo sitting next to her, especially when his knee would slightly graze her own and he would send her a small smile.

This morning she felt refreshed and ready for the task later that day but knew it was much earlier than she could expect any of her housemates to be up. Reaching through the silk curtains pulled closed around her four poster bed, she checked her watch that laid on the bedside table and it glowed _5:30,_ so she pulled open the side of her bed and began getting ready as quietly as possible. She brushed her teeth and changed her pajamas to a pair of Boston College sweatpants, a long sleeved red tee and an Ilvermorny sweatshirt; she knew that Scotland would be cold but the many layers she had to wear would quickly use up all of her clothes.

Slipping out of her dorm with her backpack slung over her shoulder, she decided to get acquainted with the Hogwarts library to get a head start on the task preparation before Justin showed up. As she walked the corridors of Hogwarts, she found the giant castle very beautiful but also cold. Classes were cancelled that day due to the task later on and she expected the school to be a flutter of activity, but the halls were bare. Back at home Ilvermorny seemed to have little creatures, elves, and ghosts scuttling to and fro through the halls at all hours of the day, but roaming the Hogwarts halls, Eden did not cross another soul as she made her way to the library. All she could hear was the faint tapping of her black converse sneakers on the cold stone floors.

Once she found the library, she was pleased to see a large blue fire going and the librarian stationed behind her post with a cup of what she assumed to be coffee in her hand. Eden's head thumped with the warning of a caffeine headache she would soon get if she didn't have her morning cup. She strolled through the warm library, smiled at the severe looking witch behind the desk, and found a seat near the fireplace as Scottish winters put Boston to shame.

Hours passed as Eden dove head first into the work that she came to Hogwarts to do. Both herself and Justin had been picked among two hundred other Ilvermorny applicants to be chosen as ambassadors for the school as well as journalists on the ground of the tournament. She would interview the champions, students, and staff about the events and report back to Ilvermorny. The reason being they were in discussions with the other Northern, Central, and Southern American schools to host their own tournament the next year.

As time passed, the library slowly began to fill up with tired looking students dragging their shoulder bags to empty tables and the heat in the room quickly shot up. Eden stripped off her sweatshirt and draped it on the seat next to her and pushed up her long sleeves. She decided to move on to some Charms homework she received earlier in the week by mail that still needed to be finished before she had her first official Charms class and reached down in her bag to retrieve it. At that moment, Theo sauntered into the library with a cup of tea in his hand and scanned the library floor. Looking towards the fireplace he saw her. Her black hair falling into her murky green eyes as she tucked it behind her ears while riffling through her backpack and pulling out some lined paper.

Over the couple of days of her being at Hogwarts, Theo began to notice she much preferred her own lined, three hole punched paper and her ball point pens over parchment and quills. The overall American vibe given off by her was intoxicating to Theo. She was so different than any girl he had met before and although she was sorted into Slytherin she still had her heart on her sleeve and a very muggle vibe. Plus her face usually gave away her real emotion; be it either a blush creeping up her cheeks or the hardening of her eyes when Malfoy said something irrevocably prejudiced. His eyes trailed over her clothes and the body underneath as he walked towards her table. After standing there for a few seconds and her not noticing, he set the mug down directly on top of the paper she was currently writing on. He sat down at the empty chair next to her, that she just deposited her sweatshirt into. "I brought this for you. I saw your friend at breakfast and he said you would be needing it."

"I thought Slytherins weren't allowed to talk to Gryffindors. From what I hear it is against the rules." Eden responded with a teasing tone. "Oh Pansy hates everybody but she is right. Houses don't usually mix. Especially Gryffindors with us, but I thought for you I'd make an exception." The red that creeped up Eden's throat and her sheepish smile as she grabbed for the mug made Theo's heart speed up. Her eyes narrowed on the tea, "Uh. What is this?" Theo's forehead crinkled as he stared at her like she had lost it, "Tea, America, it is tea." Eden whipped around and grabbed her wand from her bag and began to transfigure the tea inside the mug into a murkier liquid. "No, Theo, coffee. America needs coffee." She took a sip and made a content sound. "Thank you," Eden said looking at Theo through her thick lashes, "So what's up?"

"Nothing really, just thought I'd do my good deed for the day. See ya at the task." With that Theo stood up and strolled out of the library without looking back. Eden was flooded with confusion as she thought to herself about the difference between American boys and British boys.

Another hour passed by the time Justin quick stepped into the library and threw his backpack down on Eden's table and her mug was empty. "Alright, so last night I made some notes and I think it is shaping up to a good outline. I really hope that the interviews go well, this would be really cool to have next year." Justin looked up at her, pulling a bright blue and orange Chicago Bears folder out from his backpack and began flipping through the papers crammed inside. "Alright, here are my interview questions for Krum," Justin handed her a meticulous list of interview questions on three hole punched paper, "I really want to get his take on how he feels about the international cooperation with Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. Really is he seeing anything positive about the mingling of the different schools? Yes, the tasks are fun and interesting- maybe we will add a summary of the running stats at the bottom of the articles?- but I think what will really convince people back home that this tournament is worth the government funds as well as hours of planning is the networking the students can take advantage of at this sort of teenaged wizarding conference."

"Damn and I thought I was going overboard with prep." Her eyes widen as she saw the stacks of paper Justin was still pulling from his bag and a joking smile took over her face. "But I agree, I like the magical cooperation among the schools as a huge focus. I definitely want to get some pictures of the groups of students if possible and action shots at the first task." The plans were coming together and Justin and Eden felt ready for the task. As they began to pack up and leave, Justin looked towards Eden, "So your boyfriend asked me where you were this morning." Justin gave her a sly smile and nudged her shoulder as once again Theo made red creep up Eden's neck. "He is definitely not my boyfriend, but I do like having a friend in my house. And who are you to talk? Girls have to pick their jaws up off of the floor when you grace them with your presence at meals. I see the way Hermione Granger looks at you. It is quite adorable." Eden pushed Justin much harder as they walked out of the library into the corridor, "Ah, you know how my beauty and personality are often a curse. I have to beat them away with a stick with all my good looks and charm." Justin laughed at his luck with girls both Hogwarts as well as at home. Eden and Gina were often the source of many jealous girlfriends who thought Justin was too close to both of them throughout the years. "I really think it is because of my otherness here. They don't know many Americans and I'm exotic to them." His voice lost all hint of laughter.

"Who would have thought _we_ would be considered exotic?" Eden looked around at the students in the corridors walking to and from the Great Hall. "Dude, by the way, did you know we aren't allowed to be friends?"

"Yeah, I think Harry and Seamus aren't trying to seem prejudice but they definitely keep hinting to the fact that Slytherins cannot be trusted. Y'all definitely have a really bad rap. They were surprised I was friends with you and slightly disappointed that I didn't sneer at Slytherins as they walked by heading to classes. So weird. I'm glad home isn't like this, honestly. I mean, don't get me wrong, this place is cool so far and Ilvermorny has its own set of issues, but think if we only talked to our house? The parties wouldn't be nearly as fun without the Wampuses or Horned Serpents... But i get it, Pukwudgies... I could live without." Eden let out a loud laugh and slapped his arm as students turned to stare at the loud American duo. Seeing their stares, Eden grabbed his arm and dragged him to a side corridor away from the main hall and with a quick goodbye and rehash of their interviewing plans they returned to their houses to change for the task.


	3. Chapter 3

p class="p1"span class="s1"The task seemed to go by in a whirlwind for both Justin and Eden as they ran from champion to champion in the tent getting statements and conducting full interviews. Justin also walked the stands halfway through the task to get some action shots as well as pictures of the different schools cheering for their own champion. The feeling was electric and Eden and Justin let it fuel them. Four hours later, both journalists trudged back up to the castle as the tiredness began to settle into their limbs. They muttered a quick goodbye and continued separately back to their dorms after an overwhelmingly long day. After saying the password for the dungeon common room, Eden dragged herself to the soft couches surrounding the fireplace as she smiled a greeting at the other Slytherins spread throughout the room at tables and squashy armchairs. Laying out on the closest silver tufted couch, she pulled out her notebook and pen and began to write her journalistic piece over the dragon task and her interview with the youngest champion, at sixteen, Harry Potter. /span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" The words flowed easily out of her pen when writing about this particular champion and his courageous stand against the Hungarian Horntail. Eden could tell that Potter had some reservations about being interviewed by the American Slytherin girl he had seen hanging around Malfoy and his followers the week before, but when Eden walked towards him in the Champions Tent after he finished the task with a giant smile on her face and immediately started in on how impressed she was with him, Harry's face turned a bright shade of red under the praise, thanked her kindly, and any feeling of distrust between them faded away./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" Throughout the whole interview, she intentionally steered clear from the fact that he was known throughout Great Britain as "The Boy Who Lived" and stuck to his new champion status as the topic of conversation. Harry was relieved by this, knowing that she wouldn't bring up his past in her articles for Ilvermorny and that for once he would be recognized for something he actually recalls doing rather than blind hero praise for being a toddler that survived a killing curse. By the end of the interview, they had regressed into just talking about their classes, friends, and Harry's survival guide to Hogwarts. She had a feeling his trick about counting a certain amount of steps on the stairs and jumping over the illusion one would definitely pay off in the long run. By the end of their long talk in the tent, they had made plans to study for Transfiguration together that coming Wednesday since Eden was convinced she was behind the other students and Harry was happy to enlist Hermione and himself in helping her catch up. Eden smiled at the memory because she felt like her one goal for this semester was being reached: have friends that you can talk to when Justin isn't around. So far her Slytherin housemates seemed to take to her and now a new friend in Gryffindor. She damn well felt like a female Justin./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" "You really need to get with the culture here. Ballpoint pens? What do you think this is- the 20th century?" Theo grabbed the pen from her hand from behind the couch and as she sprang up to grab it, he kicked his legs over the couch and seated himself next to her. Putting his arm around her to hold her away from his free arm clutching her pen he steadied a gaze at her, "I didn't see you at the task today. Where were you?" Eden lowered her arms mid grab and rested back into the couch, once again noticing how close Theo had put himself to her; their thighs pressed against each other as the couch shifted them together./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Justin and I were allowed to be in the Champions Tent for our interviews, so we watched from there. Ground zero seating, it was pretty awesome." Eden beamed back at him. Her thoughts trailed to how jealous Gina would be after she told her all about this in her next letter home. "Ahh, I see. Well I'm rather jealous of both of you and all those champions."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Putting their lives at risk for the title of Triwizard Champion? No thank you, I will leave the stupidly brave actions to them. But I do love watching them put their lives at risk so I say, keep it up!" Eden laughed to herself as she tore her eyes away from Theo and started gathering up her papers and scooping them into her blue backpack. "Oh no, that isn't why I am jealous. I could live without the glory of stupidity also. I'm jealous because they got to spend time with you. Even Potter got an interview? I never thought I'd be jealous of Potter. This is a new low for me." Eden's breath caught in her throat at Theo's admission and her hands began to fumble with the papers she was trying to stuff into her backpack when Theo grabbed both of her hands and brought them to her lap to make him face her. "Interview me."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Alright, yeah. I need Hogwarts students' perspectives of all of these changes due to the tournament anyway. Why not you?" Theo let go of her hands and Eden shifted around on the couch looking for anything to allow herself to gain her composure back and calm the burn she felt in her cheeks. She avoided Theo's gaze until she heard, "Looking for this, grunge?" Looking up through her curtain of black long hair, she found Theo looking superior as he held her pen out to her. "Oh, ha. Yeah. Thanks." Grabbing the pen hastily from him in her current state of discomfort, their fingers skimmed against each other and it felt like a warm flame licked her hand at their touch. /span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" Pulling out the Hogwarts student interview questions Justin had already drafted up, she began to shift around to face him. Her right leg pulled up onto the couch and the left still on the floor she was now fully facing Theo as he lounged against the sofa with a smug look on his face and his thigh firmly pressed against her shin. His knit sweater fit snuggly across his chest and was pulled up at the elbows. Eden couldn't help but stare momentarily before pulling herself out of the Theo trance that seemed to take over more and more as she spent time around him. Slowly closing his eyes and putting his left arm on the top of the couch close to Eden, he smiled, "Ready when you are." /span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Okay, so what are your thoughts on all of the international students that are currently taking up space in your classes and in your dorm rooms?"/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Honestly? I didn't really mind until recently. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs are cordial to us and are able to discuss different strains of magic from each of their home countries, which I enjoy learning about. Rough with the language barrier, but I have learned some key phrases to help me get by. I think having them here offers a lot to the students of Hogwarts just based on the fact many students have never met witches and wizards from other countries. It is teaching us a lot about understanding and accepting others' perspectives."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" "And what is the recent change that has caused a problem for you?" Eden scribbled quickly on her notebook in her lap waiting for Theo to continue, "Here is the upset. She isn't really a problem at all. But it is this American student from Ilvermorny that I can't seem to stop thinking about. In some of the classes I have with her, she sits next to me and I get distracted. Then it is even worse when we aren't in the same class because then I spend most of my time wondering what lucky git does get to sit next to her. It is really taking a toll on my marks." At this, Eden's pen stopped mid scribble and she looked up at him. Theo took his arm down from the back of the sofa and tilted her chin up at him as he leaned towards her. He stopped a breath away from her lips with a moment's hesitation for her to stop him from doing what he had been thinking about since he met her a week ago, when Eden moved forward and planted her lips on his. His lips were soft as she melted into him as he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him and what felt too soon, for both of them, Theo pulled away. Looking into her eyes he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and trailed his finger down her jaw and kissed her again. "Want to meet here to walk down to breakfast together tomorrow?" Theo asked a dazed Eden as she stared back at him their noses almost touching. "Sure."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Good. Goodnight, beautiful." With that, Theo stood up and walked towards the hall for the boys dormitory rooms and Eden slid down the couch onto her back. Her body felt like jelly and she knew what she had to do so she got out a pen and the charmed paper that Gina gave her. She began to write:/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" emYooooooo Gina/em/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"em Dude. I've got stuff. /em/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"The paper then began to bleed out a new set of writing./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"strong Dude. What is the stuff./strong/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"emOk. So this boy in my house just kissed me. /em/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"strong WHAT?! /strong/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"strong Did you want this? /strong/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"strong Is he cute?/strong/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"strong Oh god, I hope he was cute. /strong/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Eden began to giggle to herself because she could blatantly see in her mind what Gina was doing right now. Writing something then punching into the air to then remember another question that she would have to stop and write again. /span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"em Yes, he is very cute. And I've only been here for a little over a week, but I think I like him. /em/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"strong Well, tell me about him! You want me to be all the way across the world and just be patient about this?!/strong/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"strong Don't make me come and break down those giant ass doors./strong/span/p  
p class="p1" /p  
p class="p1"span class="s1" Their conversation lasted an hour and Eden felt better with Gina in the know about a possible relationship with Theo. Gina's advice through the whole conversation was make out with him literally every moment of everyday. She got a little intense sometimes. Putting her paper back into her book bag and all of her extra folders and notebooks, Eden headed off to bed with a dreamy smile plastered to her face. /span/p 


	4. Chapter 4

The next two weeks, Eden had found herself almost constantly in Theo's company. From studying in the common room to walking the halls after classes just to get a spare chance alone together. Often they found themselves talking about their families and how different they were. "Honestly, my parents are very authoritative when it comes to parenting." Theo explained, "I've got a younger brother and younger sister and since they are both still living at home they get the brunt of that now that I am away. They," Theo hesitated looking for the right words and fiddling with his collar that suddenly felt too tight, "have certain expectations for us and with that consequences if they are not met. I worry about my siblings when I'm not home but I check in with them as often as I can throughout the year." This made Eden feel closer to Theo as they shared the more intimate details of their lives that Eden had begun to realize many Slytherins are resistant to share. "Well I don't have any siblings, but it is probably best that way. My mom is a witch and my dad is a nomaj. He isn't a huge fan of the magic so our house is basically ran like a nomaj house. Sometimes I feel like since I'm more like my mom than my dad, it disappoints him. But I wouldn't know because he is a professor at Boston College so he spends most of his time in his study or at school during the summer. I rarely see him and when I do it feels forced and awkward. Not the best time." At this admission, Theo pulled her up against his side and kissed her temple, "I'm sorry. That sucks."

"I suppose but I spend most of my summers at Gina's with her mom, Beth. They are like my adoptive family." At this memory, Eden smiled to herself and wrapped her arm around Theo's waist.

That Tuesday was like any other and Eden and Theo decided to take a walk before dinner. Walking down the corridors and holding hands, Theo asked, "So are there any ex boyfriends that I should worry about? Will they come in here and try to hex me to oblivion for your hand?" Eden looked at him and laughed, "No. No exes to speak of." Eden looked sheepishly at the floor as they continued to walk. He pulled her to a stop and took both of her hands in his own, "Well in that case, I know that the Yule Ball is still like a month away but would you like to go with me? As my date, I mean." Letting a genuine smile creep onto her face she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him chastely on the cheek, "I would love to. I've been waiting for you to ask. I thought I was going to have to get all American on you and buck tradition and ask you." Eden smirked at him with a twinkle in her eye and unwrapped herself from him and took a step back. "I never would have let you. I would have still found some way to ask you before you could say it first."

Grabbing her again and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, they began to walk towards the Great Hall for dinner with two stupid grins plastered to their faces. As they walked, they ran into Draco and Pansy and decided to catch up and walk with them. "Well, Chambers, you've locked a Slytherin man down. Good for you." Draco sent a sarcastic smile and Eden glared back with disdain. For some reason, Draco always took little jabs at her like she still didn't belong for whatever reason, "I really thought you'd go with one of your Gryffindor friends. I saw you studying with Potter in the library. Wouldn't it have impressed all your friends back home to know you got with English wizard royalty on your little excursion?"

"Woah, Draco, back off. That is uncalled for." Theo said to Draco and he shrugged in return. Theo looked at Eden apologetically. As they made their way through the corridor before the Great Hall, Draco ran into an unsuspecting Ginny Weasley as she was talking to Dean Thomas and her older brother, Ron. Eden had ran into all of these Gryffindors on multiple occasions and had friendly conversations with them when she was hanging out with Justin or studying with Harry and Hermione. "Watch where you are going, blood traitor. Some of us have somewhere to be." Draco glared daggers at Ginny as Ron pulled him behind her and squared up to Draco and Eden noticed Theo drop his arm from her and stand next to Draco staring down Dean Thomas. "What are you looking at, Thomas? Surprised to see what a real wizard looks like? You are basically a mudblood from the muggles both your parents are."

Eden cringed at the word she had only heard a handful of times while at Hogwarts but knew it was a nasty derogatory term. She cringed even harder due to it coming out of Theo's mouth. Draco looked at Theo as if he was making a joke, "Oh give Thomas a break, he can't help it. Now Weasleys? They chose to be blood traitors. Fraternizing with half bloods, mudbloods, and even werewolves. Believe me, they are much worse." At that, Ron's face became a bright horribly red color and he cocked his arm back and slammed it into Malfoy's face. The crack heard throughout the hall, made everyone stop and stare. Teachers ran to the spot and separated the boys before Draco was able to pull his wand and send a hex back at him. "Boys! What is this nonsense? 20 points from both Slytherin and Gryffindor and a month's worth of detention, starting now. March!" Professor McGonagall led both boys down the corridor away from the Great Hall and the circle around them began to dissipate. Eden looked around her at what had just transpired. Her blood began to boil as she thought on the words mudblood and blood traitor that were thrown around so carelessly. Theo walked back towards Eden and tried to take her hand and she pulled free of him and gave his a disgusted look, "No, don't you dare," Eden responded to the hurt expression on his face. She walked past him and decided to eat dinner with Justin that night at the Gryffindor table.

While sitting with the Gryffindors, Eden saw Theo trying to catch her eye and she refused to look back at him. Looking over at Ginny, she said sympathetically, "Ginny, I am so sorry. That was totally uncalled for and I would never say or even think those things about your family or Dean. We have our own different kinds of prejudices back home and I refuse to let it go here either. "I don't blame you and I know you don't think that, but you should start thinking about the company you keep." With a downtrodden look, Ginny got up from the dinner table and walked back to Gryffindor tower alone.

She knew that Hogwarts wouldn't be perfect and that everywhere has a band of ignorant fools who put faith in the prejudices they hold so dear, but Eden just didn't think that she would become so attached to one. After her third year at Ilvermorny, a fourth year boy had called Justin the n-word after he was ranked higher in the house Quidditch tournament as a more valuable player and Eden promised that she would never let someone make her friends or anyone, for that matter, feel badly about race or blood. Gina and Eden had taken retaliation on the ignorant fourth year boy who said this to Justin out of jealousy and put a dry itching potion in his underwear drawer. The message was read loud and clear that if you mess with Justin, you mess with Eden and Gina. Justin was more shy at this time and the girls were quick to stand up for him and promised to keep doing it from that day on. Getting back at a bully really ties people together.

She knew that no matter how much she liked Theo, this changed things for her.


	5. Chapter 5

Eden had been dodging Theo for the last week. He still sat by her in all of their shared classes, but she often made Daphne or Justin sit next to her on the other side as a distraction. Sensing the issue, Daphne didn't press her, but reminded her that sometimes talking about a problem can make it better. "Don't fall into the Slytherin trap of avoiding your shit, because it always bites us in the ass at some point. Give Theo a chance to explain himself." His recent run in with the youngest Weasley and Dean Thomas had really thrown her for a loop. She thought that she had known him better than that. She hoped that all of the trash talking Harry did about Slytherins wouldn't be founded and especially in Theo, but it turns out it was. Even after all of his talk about hiding so much from his parents, he still looked down on the people who were born into that life and she couldn't handle that. Theo was a hypocrite and the worst kind.

Although she was blatantly avoiding him this didn't deter Theo from trying to talk to her. His thoughts of her ran through his mind ceaselessly knowing that she was upset with him and not knowing exactly what he did wrong although looking back he thinks he has an idea. He would often find reasons to talk to her throughout classes because there she couldn't really avoid him. Still he didn't want to force her. He would ask for a pencil and try and throw in a compliment to watch the red blush run up her neck. He was happy to see that she still reacted to him at least physically. There was still hope if he could just figure out how to make it up to her but he knew he needed to really talk to her and apologize.

Draco, Theo, and Pansy were walking into the Great Hall for lunch when Theo's eyes immediately began to scan for the raven haired girl with bright green eyes who was cosily sitting at the Gryffindor table again between Dean Thomas and Harry Potter. Draco saw Theo's apprehension and let out an aggravated huff. "Honestly, mate, get over her. She has obviously moved on from you. Why are you lowering yourself to seeking her out every chance you get? She is a half blood and an American. It is starting to look pathetic." Theo was taken aback as he settled into his seat with his back to the Gryffindor table. "I'm not being pathetic, Draco, I'm just confused," Theo sneered in return. Pansy began picking at her food that she haphazardly clumped onto her plate, "She's just an American, Theo. You know she was never one of us. She has consistently turned her nose up at Slytherin tradition. You can do much better than that blood traitor." At the sound of the harsh slur being turned towards Eden, Theo had felt an angry chill run through him. He glared across the table at Pansy, "Don't you dare call her that. She is a better person than you've ever been." As the angry heat bubbling in his chest began to cool and Pansy retreated back into moving her food around her plate and fawning over Draco, Theo began to see the slur differently. On paper, yes Eden could have been categorized as a blood traitor. She fraternized with other known blood traitors, she also was a half blood, but Theo also saw a different side of her. The soft side that cared about people and him when he was lucky enough to be in her good graces. She was fiercely loyal and smart. Right then he decided he would go down fighting if anyone called her that again. Even if she still refused to talk to him. With a new resolve, he began eating his food and decided he had to try and talk to her again.

She was walking down the hall with Daphne from her Arithmancy lesson when she heard her name being called from behind her. Turning to look behind her and seeing Theo hustling to catch her, made her unlatch from Daphne's arm and dive into a tapestry covered alcove. Eden reprimanded herself for her cowardice, but she would just do it the next time she saw him she decided. She waited quietly until she believed he would have walked by and let out a sigh that was accompanied by the ruffling of the tapestry and Theo appeared before her. "Not exactly the circumstances I would have liked to get you in one of these alcoves, but I think it is a good time to talk." Theo gave a small uncomfortable laugh and grabbed her hand and tugged her towards him. "I'm sorry. For what I did. I'm sorry." His thumb was tracing small circles on the palm of her hand. "Do you know exactly what it is that you should be sorry for?" Eden sighed, irritatingly.

The circles he was drawing on her hand were insanely distracting. Looking him in the eye and finding her American courage, she ripped her hand from his and started in on him, "What you said to the Weasleys and Dean. What the hell was that? You are really that guy who makes fun of people for blood? And don't get me started on how you talked to the Weasleys. You ass! What gives you the divine right to talk to anyone like that? If that would have been me back at Ilvermorny, Gina and I would have cursed you into next year. My dad is a muggle, do you have a problem with that because it seems like you have a problem with Dean and we have the exact same situation. Both living in nomaj homes. What is the difference between us? I just can't believe you are that guy! Malfoy, yes, I get that. He is literally a prejudiced douche bag and he will get what is coming to him eventually and I wait and pray that I am there to see it, if I'm honest. He is just a bigoted little shit and you followed right along with him. For what? Be your own fucking person, Theodore Nott, and that's the day I will forgive you!" Throughout her speech, her voice began to reach new decibels and when she pulled the pointed finger away from Theo's face that she just realized she was raising at him, ripped back the tapestry to leave.

She stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at the small group of slack jawed students all standing there staring at the alcove she just walked out of, some being Ginny Weasley and Justin. Justin began a slow clap with a look of utter triumph on his face and slung an arm around Eden when she walked towards him with an uncomfortable grimace on her face. Ginny then walked up on her other side and wrapped an arm around Eden's waist with a bright smile on her face, "Let's go, friend. Thanks, by the way." They strolled down the rest of the corridor, linked together, two Gryffindors and a Slytherin leaving Theo staring after them while he thought to himself _that did not go as planned._ He let the guilt wash over him as he trudged to his next class.

The week before Christmas felt like a long and tedious one when all of Eden's housemates were fussing over the Yule Ball, which Eden had no intention of going to other than to snap some pictures and go back to her dorm room. While walking with Ginny and Daphne after the last final before winter break, Daphne piped up, "So what is everyone's plans after the ball this year? I'm going home on the 26th. I'm pretty excited to see my sisters." Daphne smiled at the two girls she walked with. "Yeah, the boys and I are heading home too. My mum would have lost it if we hadn't gone home at all for break. They are just pushing our family Christmas back a couple of days so we can all be there. Mum goes all out so I will come back 5 kgs heavier." Eden laughed as they continued on their trek to the Great Hall, "Yeah, I will be staying here. Going all the way home would be too much work and Justin is staying too so we will have our own American Christmas here. Slightly depressing, but I miss hanging out with him. It used to be every day back home with us and Gina, but here we have both been so busy lately with either school work, ambassador stuff, or just new friends."

"Sometimes that happens. Tracy and I used to be around each other constantly but different classes kind of pulled us a part this year. Not that I'm mad, my new friends are pretty great." Daphne smirked at the two girls and bumped into them.

Ginny and Daphne had become closer over the past month because Eden had worked so hard to avoid Theo that she usually enlisted both of their help together throughout the day. Daphne was adamant on Eden talking to Theo before things became unbearable, but Eden was just fine avoiding him because she didn't know if she would have the willpower to walk away from him again. Although their relationship was short, she felt they grew close in that amount of time. Each time she saw him, her heart gave a little thud of sadness at what kind of guy she thought he was rather than the guy he showed himself to be. Eden was used to people disappointing her though so she did the avoidance dance until it became second nature.

The days leading up to Christmas were filled with ambassador duties and spending time with all of the people she grew closest to during her time at Hogwarts. Justin and Eden were spending a lot of their time writing articles for Ilvermorny and taking pictures of the students during the Christmas Holiday. Hogwarts had a whole different cozy feel during these days and she thought this camaraderie shared amongst the different schools would be just the ticket for ensuring Ilvermorny's participation in the American Triwizard Tournament next year. It was also this cozy feeling that gave Eden the sense of home, finally.

Christmas Eve, Eden found herself with Daphne, Ginny, John, a Durmstrang student about their age, Justin, and Harry in the Slytherin common room surrounding the grand fire that licked the top of the mantle as they made themselves comfortable. Hermione and Ron were insistent on working on some project for next semester together, but Eden and everyone else knew Hermione was just trying to help Ron not fail his classes miserably. Setting up her cd player while Daphne passed out firewhisky that John had brought from the Durmstrang boat, she put on the Green Day album _Insomniac_ that Gina's mom had sent her for Christmas. Hitting play, Harry smirked over at her. "You are really going hard with American muggle tonight." Grabbing a cup of firewhisky, she sat down between John and Daphne.

"It is an education, Potter. I couldn't imagine leaving you all at the end of the year, knowing that you didn't gain an appreciation for Green Day and Nirvana. You're welcome," she said cheekily. "I like it, back home we don't have much music like this." John smiled at her in her defense and already began refilling his cup. "Don't get me wrong, I agree. It is just funny that none of us have really heard much about the American school before this year and now we are getting a full muggle American education from them."

"Potter, you should have known who you were dealing with. Ede takes her music and her nomajs very seriously." Justin said and started to laugh as he threw an arm around Ginny, warmly. Daphne's back became rigid as she watched this and Eden seemed to be the only one who noticed. Right at that moment, Draco flanked by Pansy and Theo walked into the common room. "I thought I smelt something bad. Not only Potter but also a whole clan of Gryffindors." John immediately stood up, waiting for a fight to break out looking between Harry and Draco. John was around 6 feet tall and had the build of a dragon tamer although he was only 16. Draco sneered at all in attendance and let his eyes land on John. "Malfoy, doesn't it get tiring being an insufferable little shit every second of the day. Go hide out in your dorm room with your cronies." Eden stared directly at Theo as he quickly looked down at his feet. Pulling at Draco's arm, he said, "Let's go, Draco. They aren't bothering anyone." Draco looked down at Theo with a sneer on his face, "Godric, you are just as bad as them. She hasn't even talked to you in weeks and you still insist on being her little puppy." With that, Draco and Pansy walked back out of the passage and Theo turned and looked at Eden then walked towards his dorm alone.

Eden, Ginny, and Daphne exchanged looks once Theo was out of sight, John took his seat back down next to Eden, and the boys began a discussion on Quidditch. "Have you really not talked to him in weeks?" Ginny started in on Eden who looked surprised by this. "No, I haven't really talked to him since our big blow up that you saw and I can live without being around a blood supremacist like him if that is who he wants to be." Ginny straightened her back, exchanged a look with Daphne, and then stared back at Eden, "You don't know do you?" Eden looked back confused now, "You know he found both Dean and I after that and profusely apologized. He told us he realized how dumb it was and how that truly wasn't how he felt. We both accepted his apology and acknowledged that he wasn't the only one who said something wrong during that argument. You should probably talk to him. One because we can all tell you miss him and two because he seems really sorry. I've never been apologized to by a Slytherin, that should count for something." Ginny shrugged her shoulders as Eden let this turn in her mind. _What is there to do now?_ she thought to herself as the rest of their group began a game of exploding snap.

The night ticked by as all of the friends became more tipsy by the second and the arrangement around the fire also began to change. John and Ginny were now sitting together with his arm around her. They would sneak looks at each other and then snuggle closer together, while Daphne bantered with Justin across the coffee table. Harry and Eden were sitting together just talking about growing up with nomajs and how different their experiences were. She felt comfortable around him and their friendship became very easy. While they talked they saw from the corner of their eye, Ginny throw her arms around John and flop her legs over his lap as she did so. Unleashing him, she smiled at him, "I would love to." Everyone now had their eyes trained on the couple. John looked over sheepishly at them, "We are going to the ball together." Ginny smiled broadly at them all. After giving them their congratulations everyone began to vanish away their mess and say their goodbyes to go to sleep. Maybe she would end up going to the dance if she had these guys to hang out with she thought as she headed back to her dorm room with Daphne excited for whatever Christmas might bring.


	6. Chapter 6

Eden woke slowly on Christmas morning while feeling a slight tickle on her nose. Thinking a feather from her pillow was the culprit she swiped at her face but the feeling persisted. Peeling one eyelid open, she saw someone hunched over her. Shooting up instantly with a scream stuck in her throat, she eyed the intruder standing by her bed. "I really thought you were going to sleep the day away. I've already been here for an hour just going through your shit." Gina walked around her bed pulling back the curtains and then looked back at her. With a mischievous smirk plastered to her face, Gina caught Eden in a tackle across the bed as they laughed and then sprawled out on the bed, limbs intertwined. "You're here! How?" Eden yelled knowing that Tracy and Pansy were already up at Hogsmeade for last minute alterations and Daphne was most likely studying somewhere and then wrapped Gina in a full body hug. "Well, I couldn't ruin our Christmas tradition just because you were here. My mom was a little pissed I wasn't coming home, but after talking to McGonagall about coming to visit, she chilled out. Also, I think she is relieved she won't be at our mercy for whatever trouble we could have gotten into in Brooklyn. I missed you, Ede."

"I missed you too, Gigi." Gina turned to face her with a concerned look, "Aww you haven't called me that since we were 13. You must have really missed me." She laughed softly then slapped Eden's leg, untangled their limbs, and sat up. "I would tell you lets talk about all that I've missed since your last letter, but I'm starving. Take me to food." Jumping off the bed, Gina started going through all of Eden's drawers pulling out jeans and a sweater for her to throw on. "Put this on, let's go. You can let me know the most recent happenings with you and Theo as we walk." As Eden changed out of her pajama top she let out an exasperated sigh, "Ha. There is nothing going on. Since I tore into him in front of half of the student body, he hasn't spoken to me other than to ask me for a pen. He uses them now. It is so irritating if I'm being honest. It was only cute because it was because of me. Now he does it to irk me." Eden shoved her feet into her black converse for emphasis. "Well, it must be working. You are sufficiently irked." A sly smile warmed Gina's face. "Let's roll out, sis. I could expire at any moment." Eden laughed and steered Gina out of her dorm and down the hall to the common room acknowledging that she actually missed Gina's use of hyperbole.

Almost all of the younger students had gone home for break, while the older students stayed for the Yule Ball that night and then had plans to catch the trains home the next day. The common room was mostly empty other than two Seventh Years in the corner tangled in each other with unwrapped gifts in front of them. "Jesus Christ, it is way too early in the morning for that. I hope they brushed their teeth." Gina tutted at the scene in front of her and followed Eden out of the passage way into the corridor. The castle was exceptionally drafty today and Gina shivered but said nothing and followed Eden as she told her of the newest info of her friends.

Arriving in the Great Hall, both girls took a seat across from Blaise and Daphne. "And these two lovely people, Gina, are Blaise and Daphne. They are okay, I guess," Eden said and then winked at the two offended Slytherins across from her. "Well it is very nice to meet you, Gina. We have heard so much about you." Daphne smiled. "Chambers, you didn't tell me your best friend was an absolute babe. Hello, beautiful." Blaise said as he winked at her suggestively and leaned towards her across the table with a seductive smirk on his face. Gina turned to Eden completely ignoring the surprised look on Blaise's face, "Does that work on girls here? Seriously?"

"Usually, yes. I've seen it." Gina turned away and started loading her plate with fruit and a cinnamon roll, "Well, that's unfortunate," she muttered under her breath and began eating completely ignoring Blaise. Eden watched as Blaise stared at Gina as if she was somehow defective. Shaking his head he went back to his meal. Daphne looked between the two and said, "Blaise, have you finally found someone who sees through your tricks? You've just met your match." Blaise looked up from his plate and smile mischievously, "She will be begging for me to dance with her by the end of the ball tonight."

"Well I have no idea what you are talking about for one and for two you're not really my type. No offense." Looking over at Eden, completely unperturbed by Blaise, "Ball? What ball? We are definitely going to that, by the way." Gina gave Eden a huge grin that usually meant she had an idea that would get them both into trouble.

Eden cringed, "I was worried about that. I don't have a dress and so you definitely don't. I had no intention of going at this point." Daphne perked up, "I have plenty of dresses we can transfigure to work for you both. Please come, it will be so fun." Daphne gave her a smile across the table. Gina decided to answer for Eden, "Aww, our friend Daphne will take care of us. We are going." Gina looked at Eden as if to say _end of discussion._

Theo came and sat down on the other side of Gina at the Slytherin table because there were no more open seats around their friends. Although, she acted still mad while talking to Gina that morning, the revelations of last night made Eden realize she would have to talk to Theo that day. He reached out and started filling his plate and an awkward tension fell over the table. Clearing her throat, Daphne looked at him, "Merry Christmas, Theo." Giving her a small smile, "Merry Christmas, Daph." He turned to his right and looked at Gina, "Merry Christmas. You are Gina I assume?"

"You assume correctly and you are?"

Theo looked past her and caught eyes with Eden quickly and then looked away again, "Theo Nott. It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you." Not waiting for a response he began eating the bacon off of his plate. "Yeah, I've heard a lot about you too." Gina said with a mixed tone.

"Well, I'm sorry about that then." Wrapping his biscuit and sausage in a napkin, Theo looked up across the table, "Well, Merry Christmas everybody. I'll see you at the Yule Ball tonight." He locked eyes with Eden and left. Gina watched him walk out of the Great Hall already eating the biscuit he took with him and turned towards Eden with a pouty, puppy dog face, "Oh my god, you cannot put that kid through any more misery. I have a secret." Gina looked down at her plate, "Um so the reason why I'm here is because he put it together. He talked McGonagall into letting me come visit." Eden's face blazed red as both Daphne and Blaise took in this new information, "Come on, I agree with your mean friend who is not taken with my charms, give the kid a break. He is trying to change. And he brought your mean friend here, that seems like a pretty big gesture." Blaise looked at both Gina and Eden like it was the most obvious observation with eyes widened and a shrug of his shoulders before he threw an arm around Daphne.

"I am not the mean friend." Gina stated in a monotone and then turned towards Eden, "Is there anything else he has done that has been stupidly nice that anyone else would like to tell me?" Eden looked around, exasperated. "Well, I watched him save a cat out of tree before. Does that count?" Blaise looked at Eden with false sincerity. Daphne decided to pipe in, "He teaches underprivileged kids how to read in his spare time," she said with a mischievous smile. "I hear that he visits the elderly on the weekends," Gina stated last. All four friends began to laugh, "Three cheers for Theo. What a guy." Blaise stated and they all cheers-ed with their orange juices and milks. Eden now knew she had to apologize for her behavior since both Ginny and all of her friends believed he deserved another chance.

Deep in thought, Eden almost missed Justin come up behind her and Gina, grab Gina by the waist, and hoist her out of her chair. Jumping up and down with Gina latched in his arms Justin yelled, "We are all here! It is a Christmas miracle!" Laughing, Justin set Gina back down on her feet and held onto her arms as she steadied herself. Once steadied, she slapped his arm, "You knew I was coming, dumb dumb. That wasn't necessary." Although her words were biting, she still smiled and hugged him tightly then sat back down.

"Alright, so what kind of Christmas shenanigans are we going to get into today? What is the plan?" Justin squeezed himself between Gina and Eden on the Slytherin bench and sent a flirtatious smile at Daphne across the table and her face grew red. "The shenanigans will definitely be the ball. This is so Posh Spice. I should have expected it from the British to have a ball in my honor." Gina over exaggerated a hair flip over her shoulder and Blaise just stared at her due to her brazen confidence. Eden cleared her throat at his blatant staring, "Well, we need to go back to my common room because I have gifts for you guys but then we can show Gina around."

"Yeah, that sounds good to me. Let's go now because we have to go back to my dorm too for a quick second." Justin began standing up but looked back at Daphne, "You are going to the Yule Ball right?" Daphne nodded, "Well, save me a dance." With that he started out of the Great Hall with both girls walking behind him exchanging knowing looks and laughing to themselves.

Once they walked out of the big oaken doors of the Great Hall, Gina grabbed Justin by the arm and both girls flanked him. "And what was that, Romeo?" Gina began talking in a deep falsetto, "Well, save me a dance." Eden and Gina began to laugh uncontrollably as Justin grimaced and turned a light shade of red. "She's your friend, Eden, remember house unity? I'm just being friendly one Gryffindor to a Slytherin." Gina fixed him with an obvious look, "Oh- OK." Justin then began to walk quickly towards the Slytherin dungeons as the girls continued laughing. "Oh shut up," he muttered.

Gina and Eden spent the last hour getting ready with Daphne in their dorm room for the Yule Ball. Make up bags, curling irons, and an assortment of dresses from Daphne's closet were littered all over their beds and floor. After taming Gina's wildly curly blonde hair into a cute updo, they were ready to put on their newly transfigured-to-fit dresses of choice thanks to Daphne.

Eden's dress was a black floor length off the shoulder mermaid dress with a paneled bodice. Thin straps came over her shoulders as two thick straps wrapped around the tops of her arms. She looked like a classic Hollywood beauty with her dark hair curled and pinned behind her ears and mulled wine colored lips. Gina turned to look at her, "Oh damn. I'm out. I refuse to go now. With you looking like this, how can I expect to get any dancing in with cute guys? This isn't fair." She then flopped dramatically on Eden's bed with a loud huff. After laying there for a minute she pushed herself up onto her forearms, "But for real, you sure you aren't some foreign model? Can I have your autograph?" Eden graced her with a knowing smile, "My beauty has been a burden my whole life. A tragedy really." Both girls started to laugh and continued getting ready. Daphne turned towards them slightly confused and after realizing that they both seemed to still be in good spirits turned back to the mirror.

Daphne wore a dark blue crushed velvet off the shoulder floor length sheath dress and black high heels to match. Her womanly frame and styled pixie brown hair added to her classic knock out status. Subtle traces of glitter laced her cheeks and the dark maroon lipstick brought the whole look together. Gina bowed down to the Queen in the room as Eden catcalled her from across the room, while putting on her makeup and curling her dark black hair perfectly in place. Daphne, one not used to praise from other girls, blushed brightly and thanked both girls. She liked that her new friends weren't afraid to compliment another woman when many girls were too afraid that a compliment might take something away from their own beauty.

Gina's dress was a red double strap scuba crepe dress with an illusion waist line. A slit came up to mid thigh and she wore matching red strappy heels and red lipstick. Her alabaster skin and curly blonde hair made her breath taking and Eden couldn't help but shower Gina with compliments as she struck multiple poses in a row as Eden acted like paparazzi. They were always each other's hype men for any occasion. Daphne excited about her own compliments, took a look at Gina and began to fan herself, swoon, and fall over as if she fainted on the bed. Gina laughed loudly and ran over to Daphne and high fived her. "See, girl, you are getting the hang of American confidence. You have to amp up your girlfriends."

Technically, Eden and Justin were on the clock as ambassadors and journalists at the ball but they both decided to worry about that later and just make sure to steal pictures from Professor Flitwick because he was tonight's photographer with multiple charmed cameras flitting around the room snapping shots of unsuspecting students.

Justin, Ginny, and John were supposed to meet them in the Great Hall, but while walking into the common room they found Blaise sitting on the couch. Looking rather refined in his black dress robes and red tie, it was hard for each girl to not stare at him longer than completely necessary. "Wow, you all look beautiful and I promised myself my date would be the prettiest girl in school but I see it is a three way tie. Would you all like to walk down together?" The girls laughed at his flattery but accepted. Grabbing three pieces of paper from a table near him, he transfigured them into corsages to match each girl's dress. They all thanked him and began to walk to the Great Hall escorted by Blaise Zabini.

The three girls and Blaise found Justin, Ginny, and John in the main hall standing around talking to each other as John and Ginny held hands. Justin was the first one to see them and was floored by the beauty of his closest friends and Daphne as well. Eden noticed that his eyes lingered a little longer on her than the rest of them even when Gina began to wave and walk towards him like the Queen. Blaise did his best to not get caught while he snuck glances at Gina without her looking. They walked into the Great Hall and were absolutely stunned by what they saw. White and silver decorations changed the look of the Great Hall into a winter wonderland. Snow fell from the ceiling and melted before it landed on anyone. Icicles lined the torches on the wall and made light reflect all over the room in different and vibrant ways. Eden heard Gina next to her whistle in awe, "Hogwarts really goes all out." Turning to her friend they both smiled and walked into the ball.

The ball had been going on for awhile now and Eden found herself at a table with Ginny and John who seemed to be completely inseparable. Both Justin and Gina were off slow dancing with their new found dance partners, Daphne and Blaise. Eden rolled her eyes having known this would happen after the exchange of sharp words between Gina and Blaise and the looks of longing between Daphne and Justin. Harry came over and sat next to Eden as his date, Parvarti Patil, walked off to find her sister and get punch for them both. "These girls are going to kill me. She just wants to dance. I'm too tired." Harry then huffed out a breath and landed his head on her shoulder dramatically. "Oh come on, Mr. Triwizard Champion. You're telling me you can defeat Lord Voldemort as an infant but are unable to dance with a girl for four consecutive hours? Slacker." Harry laughed and took his head off her shoulder and looked at her, "Have you talked to Theo yet?"

Eden shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the table, away from the dance floor, "No. I haven't found him and I've been busy with Gina."

"Sounds like an excuse to me. Lucky for you he is coming over here now." Harry pushed up from the table and locked eyes with Theo. A silent threat was made between them and Harry walked away.

Eden saw Theo walking towards her at a quick pace and he stopped directly in front of her. "Would you like to dance?" Theo bit his bottom lip nervously, "Uhh yeah. Sure." Theo then stopped worrying his bottom lip and took her hand solemnly leading her to the dance floor.

Once he found an open spot on the dance floor, he put one hand on her hip and put his other hand in hers. Already feeling the comfort coming back that she felt around Theo, she relaxed into his grip and put her free hand around his bicep. He looked handsome in his crisp black robes and silver tie. His dark brown eyes locked with hers as they swayed back and forth with the music, "I'm sorry," Eden blurted out. Theo looked surprised, "What do you have to be sorry for? I was the one who screwed up and acted like someone I'm not." Eden closed an inch of space in between their bodies, "I'm sorry because I didn't give you a chance to explain or anything. I basically hid from you. That wasn't fair and it turns out that you apologized to everyone and got Gina here for me." Theo smiled at her, "You definitely hid from me. Then yelled at me while in hiding. Luckily, I forgive you for avoiding me though. I deserved that. What I said to the Weasley girl and Thomas in the heat of the moment for a fight that wasn't even mine was unacceptable. I realize that now. Also I planned the Gina thing pretty early on. I didn't do it to try and win you back. I knew you missed her." During his short speech, Theo closed the remaining space between their bodies and continued swaying with her to the music. Looking up at him and seeing the genuine look in his eye, Eden realized that she believed him. He may have messed up, but he more than made up for it to Ginny and also to her. What else could she ask of him? With that thought, she stopped swaying with him, trailed her hands up from his chest to his face. She grabbed his face and whispered, "I missed you," before pressing her lips to his and feeling his hands begin to trail down her sides and around her waist. He pulled her closer and felt the movement of her lips on his and he began to trace his tongue across the seal of her lips, but she pulled away. Worrying he had pushed her too far he became awkward and started to apologize until she grabbed his hand and began leading him out of the Great Hall and down a dark corridor. Rounding the corner, Eden found herself in front of the tapestry covered alcove she hid from him in. "Well you said you would have liked different circumstances to get me behind this tapestry. These are different circumstances." With a tempting smile, Eden grabbed him by both hands and pulled him behind the tapestry with her.


	7. Chapter 7

Theo was holding Eden's hand as they found their way back into the Great Hall for the rest of the ball. It was getting later into the night and many students had already returned to their dorm but most of Eden's friends were still dancing throughout the room. The band had long retired and music was being played out of speakers towards the front of the room. Eden pulled Theo along to reconvene with her friends in the middle of the room as Justin bounced around with his idea of dancing. A couple songs played and the group began to dwindle. Ginny holding John's hand approached Eden and Theo, " We are having a party back at Gryffindor Tower if you guys want to come. A last hurrah on top of the party since most of us are leaving tomorrow." Eden looked over to Theo's hesitant face and replied for the both of them, " We would love to. Should we change first?"

Ginny smiled at her, "Yeah, probably. I'd just wear my pajamas because you guys will most certainly get caught trying to get back to Slytherin later on tonight." Eden smiled at her as she walked away to tell the rest of the group and looked back at Theo. "Eden, I don't know about this. I'm not any Gryffindors' favorite person." He gave her an uncertain look as he scanned the rest of the group. "Give them a chance. If it sucks, we will leave. Okay?" Theo wrapped his arms around Eden's waist and pulled her towards him, "Works for me, but lets go now so we can get some clothes." Eden circled her arms around his neck and kissed him. At that moment, Gina walked past them and tickled her, "Lets go, kids. Time to really party." Gina had that smile on her face again that let Eden know trouble was soon to follow.

Eden followed the rest of the group out to the main hall and split at the staircase with her fellow Slytherins and Gina. The Gryffindors promised to be waiting by the portrait to get them into the tower in about twenty minutes. Eden could already tell that this would be a wild party by the way John talked about the Durmstrangs supplying booze and Gryffindors already sneaking to the kitchens to retrieve food and nonalcoholic beverages. When they arrived at the common room the boys went to their dorm rooms to change and said they would meet the girls there in ten minutes. Eden, Gina, and Daphne walked up to their dorm and began to rifle through their closets. "How does one dress for a pajama party... with boys?" Daphne asked with a pink tinge to her throat. Gina whipped around with her dress already half off as she pulled on a sports bra and a dark purple tank top, "I'm wearing clothes that are comfortable. If I'm sleeping off a hangover on a couch, I better be comfortable." Eden laughed but continued to stare at her closet that quickly became reminiscent of the aftermath of a tornado. "Uhh yeah. I'll be comfortable but I also want to look cute so I don't know how to do that," Eden grumbled. Gina came around Eden's closet and began to push her away, "Just stop. Let me help you, my dear friend." Eden rolled her eyes and sat on her bed as Gina looked in her closet and Daphne put on a silk pajama short set in dark green. Happy with her decision as she looked at herself in the mirror, she ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

As Daphne was walking back, Gina let out a screech, "I've got it!" While pulling out a pair of red plaid shorts and a long sleeved white t shirt. Simple but cute. "Wear this." Gina commanded while holding it out to her and then putting on a grey sweatshirt that she pulled from Eden's closet. "I'm pretty sure this is mine, so I'm wearing it too." Eden laughed and gave her a quick sorry. Waiting on her own bed, Daphne hopped up seeing as the girls were all ready and they began to walk towards the door. "Daph, Justin is going to have a hard time taking his eyes off of you tonight." Daphne looked down at her pajama set self consciously and tugged on the hem of her shorts. "Don't take it the wrong way, you aren't dressed provocatively at all. I'm just saying, he likes you." At this, Daphne's face lit up bright red and Eden agreed with Gina. "He definitely likes you. That is obvious."

"I don't know... I think he is just very nice to everybody. He is very friendly." Eden exchanged glances with Gina as they continued their descent down the stairs and replied, "Uh yeah he is very nice and friendly, but he definitely doesn't look at G and I the way he looks at you. Ever." Daphne gave them both a small smile. "Yes, well we will see I suppose. He is quite lovely." By this time, the girls were all entering the common room where Theo and Blaise were both waiting. Blaise saw the girls first and his eyes became laser focused on the length of Gina's legs. At that moment, there was nothing he'd rather do more than run his hands up and down her legs. At Blaise's stare, Theo turned around and saw Eden. He smiled at her and began to walk over to the girls with Blaise finally standing and walking behind him. "You look beautiful," Theo whispered as he wrapped an arm around her waist and escorted her towards the entrance to the dungeons. Eden smiled up at him as they all walked out into the dungeons together.

As they walked through the halls after curfew trying to make their way up to Gryffindor's common room, they often had to duck into side corridors or hide behind tapestries to not get caught. After ten minutes of walking and leaving their latest tapestry hideout, Gina whispered as she wrapped an arm around Daphne and Daphne reciprocated, "Shorts were a bad choice, I'm freezing." At that moment, she could feel a strong warming charm lay over her like a blanket and she looked around the group assuming Eden was her saving grace and landing on Blaise, the only one with his wand out. She smiled at him with a quick thank you, "Don't worry about it, these corridors are freezing and I have sweat pants and a hoodie."

After another five minutes they finally found themselves outside of the Gryffindor tower with a woman in a gaudy pink dress staring down at them from the portrait. "Password?" All the Slytherins looked around at each other with confused glances and began to sputter out possible passwords when the portrait flew open and Harry was standing at the entrance. "Hey guys, come on in." All of them walked through, saying their thanks to Harry, Gina highfiving him, and Eden hugging him quickly. Theo and Harry locked eyes and Harry gave a small smile and said, "Come on in, mate."

As they made their way through the small opening of the portrait hole, Eden could already feel pulsing music and the heat that only too many bodies in one space could create. Walking through, Gina let out a squeal and turned to Eden, "I'm going to get a drink, I'll get you one too. Sorry Theo, not enough hands." She gave him a sad shrug and began to turn around when Blaise grabbed her arm, "I'll come with you." Gina then laced her fingers through his and began walking towards the opposite side of the room through the massive makeshift dance floor. "Sorry, love, but we will not be getting drinks from them anytime soon." Eden looked over at Theo and laughed, "Strangely, I was thinking the same thing." Daphne giggled and began to scan the room. "I see Ginny and Justin over there." Pointing across the room to where two couches and arm chairs faced each other around a table, Eden could see Justin laughing and Seamus Finnigan standing on the small coffee table chugging a beer. They made their way over to them.

Eden could feel Theo's stiff stance as the awkward feeling of being an unwanted snake in the lion's den began to settle in. Eden rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand and threw him an encouraging smile. As Justin saw them approaching, he scooted over on the couch to make room for one more to fit between him, Ginny, and John. "Hey guys! Daphne, I've made some room for you over here." Justin continued to squish himself into the side of the couch to encourage Daphne a little more. She gave him a sweet smile and sat down. Theo sat in an empty arm chair while pulling Eden down onto his lap. Eden kissed him on the cheek and turned towards the rest of the group, which suddenly got quiet. Seamus came down off the table and was now sitting on it directly in front of Theo. Staring at him. Seamus pointed his butterbeer bottle at Theo, "I heard what you said. How you apologized to my best mate." Looking quickly over at Dean who still looked worried by what Seamus might do, "That takes a lot. And getting Eden's friend here, that was cool of you." Seamus grabbed another bottle from beside one of the couches, twisted off the top and handed it to Theo who hesitated then grabbed it. "Thanks," he replied raising the bottle to him then Seamus turned back to the table and got on his knees before it. "Alright, Eden, you have to teach us how to play ring of fire." Justin gave a whoop of agreement and ran off to the drink table to grab a beer can and additional drinks for the girls. "I don't know if you guys can keep up with us. Americans can handle their alcohol." Seamus gave her a skeptical look, "You do know you are talking to an Irishman, right?" The group gave out a laugh as they all sat around the coffee table while Justin made their way back to them with new drinks and a deck of cards.

Two hours passed with different games, lots of drinking, quick kisses, and more laughter than Eden could handle. After Seamus broke the ice with Theo, it seemed to have thawed the rest of Gryffindor house to his presence as well. They smiled and joked with him as if they had always been friendly with him. The party was winding down but Theo and Eden couldn't keep their hands off of each other. They found themselves at another arm chair in the opposite side of the room farther from the dance floor as they watched their friends laughing and dancing. Gina and Blaise eventually found their way back to them earlier in the night and now were dancing like they'd been drinking for hours. Spinning Gina around and dipping her randomly, Eden could tell he was happy. No doubt the alcohol had something to do with it, but Gina had that effect on people, like Justin. Pulled you in and then made you feel special. Eden was overcome with love when she looked at Gina dancing. She was lucky to have her as a friend.

"What are you thinking about?" Theo asked as he wrapped his arms around Eden and she pulled her legs up next to him. "Just how lucky I am. I have some pretty great friends." Theo pulled her in closer and she let her attention drift back to him, "I feel pretty lucky today too. I'm sorry I was such a jack ass. We missed out on so much time together, for nothing." Eden grabbed his face and kissed him softly. "You're forgiven. Thank you for coming with me tonight."

"I'm glad I did. Couldn't let Blaise have all the fun." This made them both look over at him, who now had Gina on his back as she had her wand out transfiguring old beer bottles around the common room into mattresses, blankets, and pillows. Seeing that the party, had clearly really died down, Eden grabbed Theo's hand and dragged him towards her friends once more. Gina looked at them as they continued towards them and made Blaise turn towards them as well, from high on his back she said, "I made some mattresses and stuff, Ginny said it would be best if we all just stay and crash here. Sleep over party!" With this last statement, she threw her hands in the air and lost her balance slightly and Blaise shuffled around trying to regain it. Gina began to giggle and kissed his cheek, "Sorry."

Justin began to walk towards the group of Slytherins as well, "I'll stay down here with you guys, I miss our massive Thunderbird sleep overs." He began to put a bed together, as Theo pulled her back against his chest and whispered in her ear, "Do you want to share a mattress with me? I promise to be a gentleman, I just don't think I'm ready to let go of you yet." Eden melted at his words and spun around in his arms wrapping her own around his neck and pulling him close, "I don't think I'm ready to let go of you either," and gave him a long kiss.

Justin made a gagging noise that brought them back to reality and then someone dimmed the lights and everyone chose a mattress and grabbed some covers. Theo and Eden found a mattress on the outskirts of the group and laid down next to each other. He rolled to his side and pulled her into him and taking a deep breath said, "Good night, beautiful," and kissed the back of her neck. Eden relaxed in his arms and fell into restful sleep.


End file.
